Edward Wren and Claire Harvey have been called "the king and queen of Fringe whimsy," thanks to the much-praised shows their River People Company presented in recent years at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The two, who met in 2005 while performing in a student play at Winchester University, founded RP soon after with the help of a small group of young performers and musicians who shared their interest in puppet theater.
The Terrible Tales of the Midnight Chorus combines acting, live music and puppetry while telling three original interwoven stories which are aimed at adults, not children. Think Edgar Allen Poe meets Tim Burton meets Grimm Brothers.
Terrible Tales investigates child abuse, obsessive behavior and the love affair between a wolf-boy and a young girl. Mixing the macabre with a sardonic and comic touch here makes for unusual and surprisingly compelling theater.
When not performing Terrible Tales at the Bedlam Theatre, the River People company can be found on Edinburgh's Royal Mile during the day, performing excerpts of the show from the back of its trademark gypsy wagon.